CAPITOLA — A roughly 1.5-mile segment of Highway 1 near Capitola will be closed in alternating directions for two nights this week as construction crews continue to make progress on a high-profile transportation project.
Both lanes of southbound Highway 1 will be closed from 41st Avenue to Soquel Drive beginning 10 p.m. Tuesday and lasting until 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Tuesday release from Caltrans. One southbound lane will shutter an hour prior to the full closure as well as 30 minutes after.
On the other side of the highway, only one northbound lane will also be closed from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Southbound travelers will be directed to a detour that takes them off the highway at Soquel Drive before continuing along Soquel Avenue and then rejoining Highway 1 at the 41st Avenue onramp. The detour is expected to add about 10 minutes to the commute.
Northbound closure
The next night, Wednesday, Caltrans has planned a full overnight closure of the northbound lanes along the same stretch of roadway. The closure will last from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 5:30 a.m. Thursday. One of the northbound lanes will be blocked off an hour prior to the announced closure and 30 minutes after it is slated to end.
Similarly, one southbound lane of the highway will also be closed from 9 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday.
Another detour will be available in this direction as well. Northbound travelers will be directed off the highway at 41st Avenue and will continue north via Soquel Drive. They will then rejoin Highway 1 at the northbound Soquel Drive onramp with directional signs guiding them the whole way.
These closures will allow construction workers to continue with establishing a combination of auxiliary lanes and bus-on-shoulder facilities in both directions of the highway that are meant to facilitate quicker passage of public transit buses. The project, which is the first of three phases that will extend to Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville, broke ground last year and is expected to be finished in late 2025.
Soquel Avenue closures
Closures impacting Soquel Avenue that began Sunday will also continue until early Wednesday morning, according to the release.
The busy corridor will be closed in both directions beginning 10 p.m. Tuesday and lasting until 5 a.m. Wednesday and will extend from 17th Avenue to Chanticleer Avenue in Live Oak. A detour, with message and directional signs, will direct travelers either to 17th Avenue, Rodriguez Street or Chanticleer Avenue before returning to Soquel Avenue.
This closure will make room for workers to tear down a working platform, or falsework, used to establish a bicycle and pedestrian bridge at Chanticleer Avenue that is part of the larger project.